Bai Yumo moved first.
This wasn't their first battle. There was no need to move as if he didn't know his opponent. The second Luciel disappeared, he spread his mana and established a restrictive field that spanned several tens of thousands of kilometers.
Damien's regeneration was blocked and the fluctuations of Spacetime seemed stuck within the area of the restriction.
It was a direct move of suppression.
Bai Yumo charged forward without hesitation, surrounding his fists in mana and attacking.
Damien swerved through the air, not teleporting yet moving fast enough for it to be considered so. He dodged Bai Yumo's flurry of punches and returned them in kind, never using more power than his opponent.
Bai Yumo was trying to feel out his improvements, but he wanted to do the same! There was no way he'd easily entertain his opponent's wishes.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
The starry sky became their stage. They moved several kilometers in all directions as they went back and forth exchanging physical attacks.
Thousands of blows were exchanged with every second.
Damien used mainly his fists but wasn't opposed to using his legs too. Whenever he saw a flaw in Bai Yumo's defense, a fierce kick would land in that area and knock him off balance.
Meanwhile, Bai Yumo was less of a frontal combatant. He was skilled with his fists, but he didn't know how to use his body to its full potential.
This was not where he focused his training!
Voom!
Bai Yumo's mana swirled to life. Twisted black mana fluctuations tainted the starry sky, filling it with an air of coldness and emptiness.
The audience has their first great reaction.
Those watching, even the most experienced of them, had mostly only heard of the Saint King. They'd never seen him fight.
Bai Yumo used Abyssal Mana, something that was like impure Void Mana, and something absolutely terrifying.
For those weaker, just seeing its fluctuations made them shiver. As for the strong, they immediately became wary of what Bai Yumo could become if he was allowed to keep growing!
This battle was for the universe since the beginning and had all parties on the edge of their seats, but Damien couldn't just win this, he had to thoroughly win and crush this future threat!
In the starry sky, Damien's eyes narrowed as he teleported away.
'That mana is a lot more potent than it was last time. It looks like he's getting close to the Breath of Nothingness.'
The Abyss and Void were inextricably linked. It wasn't a surprise that the Saint King's mana was starting to resemble a part of his.
But a part could never compare to the whole!
Damien frowned and summoned his mana forth, mixing Spacetime and Samsara to make a murky final product that, frankly, looked much less intimidating than Bai Yumo's mana.
'I can't directly use Void abilities with so many people watching. I'll have to hide it thoroughly.'
Space, Time, Life, and Death were all high-level laws that most people could never touch. When they were mixed, the aura they gave off was too complex to decipher, especially through a projection.
Therefore, when Damien used the Void to stabilize this combination and power it, those observing from the shadows had no chance to find out his secret!
Bai Yumo didn't charge into battle again. He maintained his distance and started using Abyssal Mana to corrode the surrounding atmosphere.
The ambient fluctuation of law in space began to disperse and disappear. Like the Abyss itself, this place was becoming a zone rid of concepts like time and space.
As someone who primarily used these elements, Damien couldn't allow it to continue!
The Twin Moons appeared in his hands and began spraying.
Freya was fast. Bullets of four-element mana clouded the air in waves of tens of thousands every second.
Within those disordered waves, the powerful and heavy-hitting bullets from Hel's barrel disguised themselves, their sights locked onto the target!
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
Damien wasn't holding back on mana consumption. The starry sky was immediately torn to oblivion upon his advent.
Space and time didn't disperse, but chaotically spread their essence and mingled, creating a distorted space.
Bai Yumo was forced to dodge the densely packed mana bullets flooding his surroundings. He swerved as Damien did before, his body melding through space and finding even the smallest gaps to evade the barrage while expending the least energy possible.
This gave the space itself time to heal from his interference, and—
'Void Sword Art Variation Sixth Form: Worldbreaker, Horizontal Slash'
SHIIIING!
Damien appeared behind the Saint King without any prior warning.
Mirage was at his hip in a sword draw position, a sheath made of mana containing its energy.
Damien's eyes were sharp like blades as he pulled the sword from the sheath.
His movement was like a flashbang, so impactful yet too fast to react to!
The sword slashed towards Bai Yumo's neck, reaching just an inch away from it in a spark of an instant.
Bai Yumo's eyes widened. He rapidly retreated and flourished his Abyssal Mana.
'Emptiness!'
He pushed the mana through his systems. He formed his defense technique and pushed it into reality!
That was when Damien's sword reached him.
All the mana stored in the blade powerful enough to earn a title like Worldbreaker was let loose.
Worldbreaker at its full power for the first time; it was just a shame there were no celestial bodies nearby to feel its impact.
RUMBLE!
Tremors spread through space with absolute ferocity.
And in the next second—!
BOOOOOOOOOOM!
Space itself cracked like the earth. It separated into blocks of even volume and exploded geometrically, painting a beautiful picture for the onlooking audience.
"Ack!"
Bai Yumo groaned in pain, wiping the blood from his mouth.
The powerful tremors were attacking him specifically despite their wide area effect.
He pushed the mana he was controlling, using the concept of Emptiness to consume the surrounding mana and secure the environment.
Emptiness was something similar to Devour, only, it did not reflect the effects of the things it devoured onto its user like the Void ability.
Nevertheless, it was the best defense.
Besides the original injury he suffered due to the unexpected onslaught of pressure, Bai Yumo was able to avoid being hit by the rest of the powerful attack.
'As expected, he is not the same as before. I cannot afford to act slowly.'
This battle couldn't be as drawn out as the last one.
Damien was the only one who'd benefit from a long battle; that monster with seemingly unlimited mana.
Bai Yumo could not lose this time.
No matter what, he needed to show the Saint Emperor victory.
Because if he didn't—!
His expression hardened. The aftereffects of Damien's attack were still spreading, but the man himself was nowhere to be seen.
He was definitely plotting something else!
Bai Yumo summoned his Abyssal Mana and even his Demonic Providence to prepare his own attack.
Right now, the momentum did not belong to him.
Despite the fearsome expression on his face and of his mana, those watching did not feel fear in their hearts.
Because, despite his appearance, it was undeniably fact that Damien took first blood!
He already had the upper hand!
